Pages

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Children of Kord

Hail friends of Greyhawk! Today I'm musing about all the children of Kord god of strength. In fact, I'm entirely surprised there isn't any officially named in canon. At least to my knowledge. Why is this a shock? Well Len Lakofka set them up to be some heroic progeny way back in Dragon Magazine #87. Perhaps it's a tease, but even your next character could be the Child of Kord. How? Let's have a look at some 1st Edition lore...

Kord is worshipped more than any other
Suel deity. Thriving churches dedicated to
him can be found in the Barbarian States,
northern Ulek, Almor, the Great Kingdom,
Hepmonaland, and on Lendore Isle. Small
isolated churches may be found among
peasants over the entire route of the Suloise
migration"

Kord is all over, especially within the Thillonrian Peninsula. So basically any character, especially barbarians, could have a chance to be a demigod child.

"Kord is quite the fool for a pretty face.
He favors elven and human women, but
has also consorted with other humanoids
and even giants. The world is full of his
sons and daughters, but few, if any, of them
can claim demigod status (less than 1%).
Any figures who can make that claim must
have scores of 18 to 20 in two of these three
ability areas: strength, constitution, and
dexterity."

So, Kord is not only loved Oerik-wide but, like many AD&D gods of Greyhawk, he flaunts the fact that true deities aren't supposed to directly enter the Prime Material Plane without the consensus of the pantheons. Clearly then, carousing with mortals in alternate forms is the classic mythology loophole.

"To determine whether an offspring of
Kord is entitled to demigod status, roll
2d6+6 for each of the characters ability
scores. Two of the results must be 18 (rolls
of 12, modified), and the numbers must be
assigned so that the character has scores of
18 in two of the three physical abilities:
strength, constitution, and dexterity."

Now the chances an elf having a modified 18 DEX is pretty good, but the other stats means Kord more than likely has children among giants or ogres before medium sized humanoid-kind. Even so, the rules of this edition allow you to try and build your character as a child of Kord upfront (unlike the scant 1%chance of being psionic after the fact). The 2d6+6 system guarantees a decent PC with minimum stats of 8, average of 13 yet there is no certainty you'll get two 18+ stats. The d4 roll is what separates the demigods from the pretenders though..."If this criterion is met, roll d4 for each ability score of 18: a result of 1 or 2 means no adjustment, a result of 3 raises that ability score to 19, and a result of 4 raises it to 20.Only those characters who pass all these
tests and end up with two scores of 19 or
higher among strength, constitution, and
dexterity can dare to claim their birthright
and openly profess Kord as their father.
Kord will not deny such a claim; instead,
on the childs 17th birthday Kord will come
forth to give the young warrior a great task
based almost entirely on fighting ability.
Those who pass this test will acquire limited
special powers (see the lists below)."

How's that for a 17th birthday party? What's even better for the PC child of Kord is ALL starting ages in 1E (even humans) are already in that range, meaning a player who defies the odds could not only have two exceptional stats, but also some additional powers (assuming the PC can pass this test of combat) at only 1st level!

"Although passing this final test does
qualify the character (in Kords eyes) to call
himself or herself a demigod, the overriding
power of Lendor keeps Kords offspring
from dominating the Prime Material plane"

Well that's a relief.

"Each demigod character gains from 2-4
special powers; roll d8 once for each of the
following lists."

List #2:
1. Heal self once/week
2. Jump or levitate at will
3. Enlarge self at will, as 10th level
M-U
4. Climb walls as 7th level thief
5. No non-proficiency penalties
applied
6. Can cast silence on self at will
7. Blood rage: Will go berserk (+2
to strength) if damaged 50% or
more in combat, fighting until
slain or until everything within
60 feet is killed
8. Roll twice, ignoring 8s and
duplicates

Now all these "powers" are quite tailored to the AD&D system, so for an enterprising DM to adopt the Children of Kord into their modern D&D games, it will require a bit of creative game design.

So, you've successfully made a child of Kord...Now for the last paragraph of info on these rare quasi-deities.

"Kords children may never be lawful, nor
may they be paladins, illusionists, monks,
or druids. Any of his children who do not
enter his clergy and who reject the fighting
profession (by not becoming a fighter or
ranger) and any of his offspring who display
cowardice will be disowned, which might
mean (30% chance) that Kord himself will
come to the Prime Material plane to slay
the offending character."

No one said being a Child of Kord was going to be easy. For those who hung in there for this long article, here's a bonus Kord comic of mine from Oerth Journal #21.

5 comments:

Great piece, Mike. I agree---a child of Kord could make an excellent NPC warlord or other villain. But it owuldn't have to just be a barbarian---could be a brave thief, or fighter/MU, for example, too.

moreover, I never thought to say a roll of an older character meant success...if anything, I'd assume it meant automatic failure, but I instead would allow the super unlikely potential demi god to start at age 16 (so as to prepare for the challenge by gaining xp for a year), or age 17 (& just start off doing the challenge at L1/xp 0). Auto success or failure never even crossed my mind back then (or now, until seeing your post).

Greyhawk Links

Openly Gamer Theatre

RPG Academy Network

"The Savant-Sage and Pluffet Smedger the Elder are part of the past. The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting is yours now, to do with as you wish. You can mold new states from old, or inflame ancient rivalries into open warfare, as you tailor the world to suit the needs of your players. The time has come for new legends to be created, new battles to be fought, new songs to be sang. It is your world - welcome to it!"
-Steve Winter & Allan Hammack

Disclaimery

All original material on this site is copyrighted by Michael 'mortellan' Bridges, and should not be reproduced without permission. The same goes for links to art, articles, maps and fan-fiction by other authors. Names, likenesses of characters and references to things such as Dungeons & Dragons or the World of Greyhawk and its derivatives are all registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.® and their use here intends no infringement to those rights. The same goes for any other game company out there such as Paizo Publishing, Troll Lord or Pied Piper Publishing. This blog is purely for informative and entertainment purposes so lighten up and enjoy!